Mary hosts New Year reception

All photos © Steen Brogaard
Today Crown Princess Mary has hosted a New Year's reception for representatives of her many patronages at Christian VIII's Palace at Amalienborg. Mary has 21 organisations for which she is patron. There are many others she is involved with together with Frederik (various awards for special projects), or in specific areas such as skin cancer awareness (which is otherwise the Queen's overall patronage) or the anti-bullying project which is under the auspices of Save the Children, which is attached to the Queen and Frederik. The Mary Foundation is a new area established in late 2007 which has been busy behind the scenes (we know from off-calendar meetings in recent months) setting up the projects which will be the first to benefit from funding in the near future. Also present were members of the Crown Prince Couple's court, Per Thornit, Caroline Heering and Tanja Doky.

Downloadable versions of these pics are available on the Crown Prince Couple's website for personal use. Media go to Steen Brogaard's site

Representatives from Mary's patronages were present at the reception.
Culture:
The Children's Choir of the Royal Danish Academy of Music
The Danish Arts and Crafts Association
The Danish Cultural Institute
Fashion:
Copenhagen International Fashion Fair
Designers Nest
Humanitarian Aid:
The Danish Refugee Council (DRC)
Research and Science:
The Danish Youth Association of Science
Research Day
Social and Health:
Children's Aid Foundation
Danish Association for Mental Health
Mothers Help
Rare Disorders Denmark
The Alannah & Madeline Foundation
The Christmas Seal Foundation
The Danish Brain Injury Association
The Danish Heart Association
The Danish Kidney Association
The Danish Mental Health Fund
The Danish Stroke Association
World Health Organization, Regional Office for Europe
Sport:
The Danish Golf Union
The Danish Swimming Federation

TV2 news clip (03:05) - shows Mary arriving by car at Christian VIII's Palace and then a story about the Brain Damage Association. The woman doing the art work explains she has brain damage, but has been helped by the association. The man from the organisation explains it was in a real crisis because of lack of funds before Mary became patron. The "Mary effect" caused a quadrupling in the amount of media coverage, and
1. 30% increase in members
2. 5 million DKK increase in funding
3. a significant increase in donations from various foundations.
The report says 60, 000 Danes suffer from some sort of brain damage.